The Prize
by Inumimi1
Summary: Sesshomau reflects on the changes his brother has made to the world.


Disclaimer: InuYasha belongs to Rumiko Takahasi and her publishers. No profit is made from this story. No copyright infringement is intended.

The Prize

Sesshomaru handed the phone back to his mate. Rin and Kagome would coordinate the recall of their far flung pack with the precision of battle hardened generals. Soon he could hear Rin coordinating with the staff, ordering that all the family wings of the rambling estate be aired out, new tatami mates be laid and that every room be readied for a gathering of the entire clan.

Knowing that InuYasha and his mate would be the first to arrive Sesshomaru began to mentally brace himself for the inevitable chaos that his brother and his latest brood of pups would bring.

Sighing, the great inu youkai lord could not blame his brother for indulging his mate. When Kagome had finally returned from the future for the last time InuYashsa had not only promised that they both would live long enough to once again see her beloved family, but he had also promised that they would give her mother the joy of spoiling a new litter of pups. Of course as soon as Kagome announced that she was pregnant Rin had quickly followed suit, and while Sesshomaru dearly loved his all of his pups, things did become rather chaotic once his brother's rambunctious offspring were added into the mix.

Of course InuYasha was completely to blame for this latest upheaval, the culmination of 500 years of (as far as they could tell) history shattering changes.

It had all begun with such minor decisions. After the old miko, monk and slayer had finally succumbed to old age, Inuyasha, Kagome, their adopted kitsune kit, and their own (surprisingly) full hanyou pups had permanently moved to the great western palace at Sesshomaru's own invitation. In addition they brought a sweet bat hanyou, Shiori, who like InuYasha came from a long line of powerful daiyokai and they were often visited by a huge horse hanyou, Jinenji, who turned out to be a brilliant herbalist.

Then came their first great treaty with a non inu power, something that had never been attempted before, and it was brokered by InuYasha. The wolf tribes led by Kouga were soon trading and even settling in the western lands.

From there things seemed to progress naturally, knowing that the great Lord of the West had taken a human as mate and that the Lord's powerful hanyou brother was welcome, other hanyou and mixed couples (human and youkai) began to immigrate to the western lands.

Soon human, youkai and mixed villages coexisted more peaceably than anyone would ever expect and when disputes arose the combined talents of Sesshomaru, InuYasha, Kagome and Rin were generally able to mediate resolutions.

Then came the big event. After hearing of the human, youkai and mixed villages that were thriving under Sesshomaru's rule, the Emperor of Japan invited the great youkai Lord of the West to be officially presented at court. Kagome was beside herself, this was impossible, a presentation at court was an event of such magnitude that it was bound to be historically recorded and she insisted that there was absolutely no record of a youkai ever being presented at court.

None the less Sesshomaru, Rin, InuYasha and Kagome dutifully presented themselves to the Emperor.

All the assembled courtiers were amazed by the beauty, not just of the human women, but also the inu brothers. Sesshomaru's regal bearing and undeniable power garnered instant respect, and while InuYasha's brashness at first amused the court, soon enough his sheer strength impressed everyone. Kagome as a powerful miko mated to a hanyou was considered a wonder and Rin's sweet disposition instantly charmed all who met her.

It happened for the first time shortly after their official presentation. After being escorted to a suite of rooms, Kagome collapsed. She was unconscious for only a few moments but as she began to regain consciousness she began to mumble "Youkai were never presented at court, youkai were never presented at court!"

Upon fully regaining consciousness Kagome insisted she was fine, but when questioned about her mumbling statement she was at a loss and insisted "Why would I say something so silly, of course youkai were presented at court. All the history books say so, though they never mentioned the youkai by name."

After their return home it was InuYasha who was the most disturbed by Kagome's insistence that she always knew that youkai had been presented at court. He knew for a fact that Kagome had no inkling of youkai as real beings before her first trip through the well. He discussed the matter thoroughly with the finest of scholars and eventually they came to a disturbing conclusion. When history, as Kagome knew it, changed in a fundamentally important way, Kagome's brain had to reset itself to conform to her new memory of that history. InuYasha had not been affected as he had was not originally from the future, his knowledge of what was to come was second hand so to speak.

As an experiment Kagome personally wrote out important points concerning the future, while telling a youkai scribe the same future history. The scribe then wrote down all he had been told, double checking that all the facts he transcribed were identical to Kagome's hand written future history.

The first true test of InuYasha's theory came some time after the arrival of the Black Ships. Fearing the influence of Christian missionaries, the Emperor called on all the great houses for aid. It was InuYasha who came up with a plan that even had the Emperor chuckling. The invited representatives of the leading Jesuit and Franciscan orders were stunned at the arrival of several gods that happened to owe a certain hanyou and miko a favor or two. The beautiful water goddess Suijin and the venerable monkey god were more than the priests were prepared to deal with, their theology simply could not accept that other gods (albeit minor ones) existed. Christianity in Japan soon became a powerless curiosity and, while Kagome did not pass out, her history no longer made any mention of the religion while her original had.

Kagome's next major collapse occurred in 1637. Upon careful comparison of the two written histories it was discovered that the youkai scribe's history detailed something historically called the Shimabara Rebellion, Kagome's version no longer mentioned this rebellion, the fact that it was lead by Christian rebel Amakusa Shiro, the fact that it lead to the outlawing of Christianity in Japan, and that it marked the increase of Japan's isolationist policy.

Over the next few hundred years Kagome's history continued to change, youkai were mentioned more and more, some major wars were completely eliminated while completely new wars were added.

Most surprising was the fact that Japan became the center of a great youkai and kami liberation movement. Emboldened by the coexistence of humans and youkai in Japan, youkai hidden all around the world began to emerge. Some were accepted into their native societies while others were forced to flee and seek shelter in other lands. Under the personal insistence of InuYasha, Japan became a safe haven for dislocated youkai and kami and as a result the country prospered.

The world influence of major religions was drastically altered, some religions were able to adapt and welcome or incorporate the existence of supernatural creatures, while others insisted on maintaining their old attitudes. As a result politically and financially motivated wars still occurred with heartbreaking frequency, but religious wars were much less common.

Eventually Kagome's "spells" tapered off as her personal perception of history had changed so much that she barley noticed the changes any more, and as time went on her original version of history became less and less accurate.

Despite all the changes that were occurring, the flow of history seemed to adapt to all the deviations that had been made and most of the worlds major accomplishments and milestones happed right on time. A human set foot on the moon in 1969; the full blooded youkai copilot, having lost the toss of a coin, had to satisfy himself with being the second Earthling to set food on the moon.

As the twentieth century, and the eventual birth of Kagome came closer, InuYasha and Kagome were exiled from Japan altogether and neither were allowed to return until after Kagome's final trip back in time. The day after Kagome's permanent return to the past the duo descended on the Sunset Shrine assuring Kagome's mother, brother and grandfather that, not only was she still alive and well, but that there were two fully grown hanyou children for them to get to know and the promise of more pups for all of them to look forward to.

It was only after Kagome and InuYasha's return to Japan that InuYasha's true role in uniting youkai, humans and hanyou was fully revealed to the world. For nearly 500 years the inu hanyou had kept out of the public eye fearing to contaminate Kagome's childhood. Now that Kagome had passed the critical point in her life Shippo and Shiori, mates for several centuries, had taken it upon themselves to make sure that their adopted father was recognized for all the good work he had done - and this was the culmination of all of their hard work.

InuYasha would absolutely hate all of the publicity, but even Sesshomaru could not deny his pride, for how many daiyoukai could boast that their once hunted and despised hanyou brother had won the Nobel Peace Prize!

Author's note: this story has been kicking around my head for several years, I finally decided to actually write it down and most of it came together in a single evening, I then started to tinker with it and after several days realized that if I kept tinkering I would never get around to posting it – hope you liked it!

PS – Just finished rereading kodiaqkitten's great 'Darkness Fades to Dawn' so I had to include mention of the Shimabara Rebellion!


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